Analysis of Age and Gender Characteristics Among Patients with Mental Disorders

4.1 About the Data

This section is about the clients who identified as having a current mental health issue and received specialist homelessness services (SHS).

Specialist homelessness service(s) (SHS) is assistance provided by a specialist homelessness agency to a client aimed at responding to or preventing homelessness. The specialist homelessness services in scope for this collection include accommodation provision, assistance to sustain housing, mental health services, family/relationship assistance, disability services, drug/alcohol counselling, legal/financial services, immigration/cultural services, domestic/family violence services, other specialist services and general assistance and support.

The data used for this section came from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

4.1.1 By Age Group

Figure 4.1: Recipients of SHS by Age Group, 2020-21

4.1.2 By Sex

Figure 4.2: Recipients of SHS by Sex, 2020-21

4.1.3 Summary

SHS recipients’ rate:

Young adults aged 15-24 constitute the highest percentage of those with current mental health issues who also receive SHS.
A decline in SHS recipient rates is observed as age increases.
Females significantly outnumber males in receiving these services.

SHS recipients’ characteristics:

The characteristics are similar to those of the general population - age distribution is bell-shaped and 25-44.
The number and percentage of female recipients are much higher than males.